Texas set execution date for Mexican national at center of ICJ case

On May 5, 2008, a Texas court set the execution date for Mexican national and Texas prisoner Jose Ernesto Medellin for after the US Supreme Court ruled in that President George W. Bush did not have the authority to direct state courts to comply with a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ had ordered a new court hearing after finding that Texas authorities had violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations following Medellin's arrest for murder. The execution was later carried out, prompting the ICJ to rule that the US had breached its obligations under international law.